Staffers need background checks, says Congresswoman Kathryn Cammack. (Instapundit: “You’d think they would already be doing that.”)
Cammack (shown above) is pushing for background checks on congressional staffers and mandatory disclosure of their nationalities “as well as any payments by foreign governments to current or new Capitol Hill hires.”
Disclosures of foreign-government payments by whom, though? Foreign agents on congressional staffs will probably not be eager to report such payments to themselves (New York Post, July 22, 2026).
The proposal comes after reports emerged last month that the FBI has been investigating a senior GOP aide for allegedly acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Qatar, as well as revelations that spies for Cuba and China have been working in members’ offices….
A longtime aide to Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) was fired in 2022 for seeking to facilitate meetings between congressional offices and the Chinese embassy, while disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) was also the target of an influence campaign by Beijing.
“It’s a total free-for-all on Capitol Hill,” Cammack said. “Our adversaries not only know that, but they take advantage of it.”
The legislation may be sidelined, though. Cammack says that GOP leaders tell her that she needs a hundred cosponsors for her bill to get a floor vote. Even though other bills have reached the floor with less support.
“For a number of different reasons, I am hearing that leadership doesn’t want this to go through, and I think honestly it’s because they’re more worried about what they’re gonna find.”
